Just This One Time
by Southwitch
Summary: Onesided RiffUmbia. Columbia couldn't remember a time when everything stopped for all the right reasons, until today that is. Oneshot


**Hey readers! So I've noticed that there has been a huge and sudden support of BradGenta...a pairing I have never understood and I really would hate to see Riff Raff alone. So out of that, I came up with this! RiffUmbia...with emphasis on the Umbia as it's one sided... Well anyways, this takes place in one of the various City-verses during her time in the castle when she was young. Okay, enjoy!**

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><p>"Time meant nothing, never would again."<p>

Never had one Columbia Anslong regretted such a statement so much.

She had lived in the castle for who knows how long and loved it, she loved her friendship with Magenta and City. Frank was well...Frank but Eddie was amazing! She couldn't have been happier except for one thing...

She missed her birthday

There was no true mention of time ever in the castle, nobody's birthdays were ever acknowledged, even young City, who was the only person to visibly age at all. Days passed but nothing changed...it was as if the castle was surrounded by some sort of time force field.

Columbia never understood it.

Even the fallen leaves around the castle never decayed, it looked like fall through the entire year, no matter if it snowed, rained, became hot or cold. The leaves had even stopped falling now that the redhead had begun to think of it.

But she still missed her birthday.

With no way to keep track of time, there was no telling when any holidays were or how many days it had been. Every day was the same.

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><p>It was a day just like all the others; City and Columbia were practicing a tap routine in the ballroom, just as they did when the young girl was bored.<p>

"Columbia? Why do the leaves never change?" City asked, stopping for a moment to drink some water. Columbia froze for a second, her heart almost broke. Even the child knew there was something wrong with this place.

"I don't know. When I came here it was spring...then fall came and it never changed. In town it's different from what Eddie tells me but usually...it's just the same here."

"I don't understand..." The child frowned.

"Me either kid...me either." Columbia sighed before turning back to her dance. They continued for a moment until Riff Raff entered carrying a book and some paper and pencils. City halted instantly and ran to her father, hugging the bony looking man tightly.

"It's time for her lessons for the day, Frank has turned in for his mid afternoon nap which leaves us much to do and only about two hours do so, so I suggest you keep those shoes quiet and find something better to do with your time Columbia." Riff Raff was cold to the earthling, as always.

"Please! Daddy is teaching me fractions today!" City plead with Columbia, her bright blue eyes sparkling. She had always loved learning and it was rare if she got a moment like this to work with her father for an extended period of time.

"Yeah...okay..." Columbia frowned before taking her shoes off and leaving the room. Eddie was working as he usually did this time of day so it left her few options for her activities.

She set her shoes down in her room and put on a far less loud pair of boots. This was nearly routine for her. On occasion, the makeup would come off and her sparkly outfits would exchange themselves for a plain brown dress and coat. Putting on the only bit of color to her entire ensemble, a simple red scarf, she walked outside and looked at the fallen leaves. Columbia always wore this outfit, rain or shine because she could never be sure what was outside the castle grounds. If it was sunny she would simply remove her coat, if it was cold she would bundle it closer. She kicked around the orange plants as she walked away from the castle.

Even as a child, when her name was simply Laura she would escape her family's farm and walk around in forests to clear her head. In both situations, it proved vital to maintaining her sanity.

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><p>Once or twice, she had taken City with her. The two walked in near silence before Columbia would settle on a small grove and City would play in whatever weather seemed to be upon them. City once told her that she liked the spring best because it was the exact opposite of what was around the castle. Green!<p>

"I think my favorite color is green Columbia! It's so fresh! I love the grass, even if it makes me itchy!" City exclaimed as she splashed around barefoot on in the edge of a small pond they found. Columbia toyed with a daisy that was growing in a patch on the ground; nature fascinated her in every way. She supposed it was all those days spent helping her family grow what little they could. She drifted into a state of dreaming she woke up a while later with a dripping mess of a child standing over her.

"I...uhm...I fell in the pond..." City grinned sheepishly as she wrung out her curly mess of hair. Columbia knew she should have scolded the girl but she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh dear!" She giggled, "Let's get you home and...why are you all muddy?" Columbia's laughter stopped as she raised an eyebrow. She looked City over carefully; the girl's dress would be barely salvageable,

"Well...I fell in the pond...I didn't say when!" City laughed, of course Columbia joined in. Magenta was furious but it was moments like that...those simple moments where time froze for all the right reasons that allowed the earthling to maintain her smile every day.

Today wasn't one of those days.

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><p>It was fall outside too. Everything looked the same and nothing felt settling about it. After twenty minutes she huffed and returned to the castle.<p>

Sitting down on the back steps of the building, Columbia looked around.

"Still the same old everything...how old am I even? I don't even know...I guess...City looks about...eight and I came here while Magenta was pregnant with her so I guess it's been nine years since I came here and nothing has changed...not one bit. What gave I gotten myself into? Am I really nine years older than when I came here?" Columbia sighed, her arms curling around her legs. She hated this feeling, this listlessness that made this life no longer worth dealing with. The frustration kept building up inside of her until she felt as though she could burst.

She cried, she didn't cry too often anymore, there wasn't much need to with so little worry in her life. "Nine years!" She whispered to herself through her sobs.

"Actually it's only been six." Riff Raff said from the doorway,his lanky body leaning on the frame. "City does look rather mature for her age though, doesn't she?" He noted, barely looking at her.

"What? How do you know?" Columbia looked at the tall man. This castle was filled with mystery...she never would come to understand all of it.

"I bought a calendar when we arrived on earth. With simple math I have kept track of important days. The anniversary of our arrival, my birthday, Magenta's birthday, our anniversary, City's birthday and yours of course. I remember you mentioning it in passing and I didn't understand it until I took a look at the calendar. Earthling months are very different from Transsexual months. Our years are actually longer by about ten days."

"Wait...you keep track of birthdays?" Columbia looked at him with disbelief. Only half of his words even registered with her.

"I have." Riff Raff sat down next to her. "None of the clocks work, how else would we?"

"And you never celebrate? Why?" Columbia looked at him, more confused than she ha ever felt before.

"Frank has always said he hates the idea of aging. Even on Transsexual we never were allowed to celebrate time passing. His mother actually invented the Time Warp, so people would forget the idea of time. Nobody in the castle ever had a single acknowledgment for their birthday, that is, except for Magenta; Frank loved showering her with gifts and attention. He had a very large crush on her when we were growing up. He always said she became more beautiful with age...that it suited her well. Do you know he actually would try to keep Magenta away from me on my birthday because he knew that the only way I would want to spend my birthday was with her. Sometimes City asks about her birthday and we try to remember but usually Frank is especially foul around then. It makes it nearly impossible. I've considered just celebrating it at a separate time but that doesn't seem as special, does it?" Riff Raff looked out at the field of orange around them.

"I'm so sorry...I had a lot of siblings so most of the time we were treated as a match set. We all looked so alike too...how could no not treat us as if we were one person? Except on our birthdays though, that was always the day that I felt special." Columbia shared, remembering all the times with the parties that would be about her and nobody else. Everything has always and always would be about Frank. Ever since her first day in the castle, it had been all about Frank, all the time. "I sort of miss feeling special...even if it's just for one day."

"What do you mean? You are living in a house with four aliens. Time as literally stopped around us and you don't feel special?" Riff Raff looked at her in amazement. "You are probably the most special human I've ever met! I'm surprised this is the first time you have felt this way. Nobody else could do what you are! You're incredible Columbia and you don't even know it. You're special and you show it every day...you just don't see it because it's so routine these days." Riff Raff looked Columbia in the eye. Columbia blushed furiously. She had never felt so flattered.

"Riff...I never knew you liked me so much..." She tried to breathe but it kept hitching in her throat. Columbia had never felt this way about another man. At one point, she thought that this feeling was the one only Frank could give her, even if that was only temporary... but now...Riff Raff of all people was giving her this...this...warmth. It was so unusual. It made her instantly wonder what this feeling really was...was it special or...something else entirely. She tried to shove the feeling away, she knew it was wrong but it was undeniable.

"I don't. But coming from experience, I know that everybody needs to feel special sometimes." He smiled as he so rarely did at her. Columbia felt her heart sink and leap at the same time. She could almost feel herself leaning into him, this attraction would be the end of her if she wasn't careful. "And like I said, Frank is asleep. Come with me." Riff Raff stood up and offered his hand to her. He led her to the ballroom where City and Magenta were now next to a small cake with Columbia's name piped into the center and a single candle lit, dotting the 'i.' The two aliens smiled.

"Happy birthday Columbia!" City grinned.

"Hope you like the cake...it's from a box but it's better than nothing, wouldn't you agree?" Magenta smiled though she still looked as if she didn't care. "City piped your name on it herself. Now blow out the candle before Frank wakes up and ruins it." Magenta rushed her friend.

Columbia forced back a squeal of joy as she jumped to the cake.

"Don't forget to make a wish!" City smiled even wider. Columbia thought for a moment, her foot making a small thunk on the floor as she tapped it before blowing out the candle. She quickly lifted it out of the cake and cleaned off the bottom of the candle. Magenta cut into the cake and passed pieces out on small plates. The four of them smiled before eating.

"Thank you all so much! You don't know how much this means to me!" Columbia nearly cried.

"Don't thank us, we just carried it out. This was all Riff Raff's idea." Magenta nodded to her brother. He blushed slightly, causing his daughter to giggle. Magenta kissed his forehead before finishing her piece. Columbia looked on at this scene; they were a perfect little family. She wondered if she would ever have a family like that.

Then she looked Riff Raff in the eye, that warm sensation in her stomach hit her again. She kept blushing but she knew it would prove useless; Riff Raff would always belong to Magenta.

It hurt but she knew that one thing would always be for certain.

Thanks to him, every day would be special.

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><p><strong>Yup! So there you have it folks! Appreciation for another couple that rarely sees daylight! R&amp;R and I'll be sure to get back to my regularly scheduled writing! Thanks again for reading!<strong>

**Jenny**


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